The Four Lives of Robinson Appleson

Chapter 8

She appeared in front of me. Her face was diabolic, she smelt of burnt skin. I looked eye to eye. She told me this. No, in fact, she screamed at me saying, "Go away if you don't want to get hurt!" I received the message loud and clear, but I didn't move. She held me by the waist and clicked her fingers. I appeared on my bed.

The next day, I woke up at 7 am and went out for a jog. I had left my scooter near the castle, so I went to pick it up and came back home with it. My cousin, the lazy one, was still sleeping. I dolled myself up and went up to her room. I jumped on her bed to wake her up. Red like a tomato, she hid her face.

"Get out!" She screamed. "I haven't put on my make-up yet." "Good! You are less scary when you aren't made-up."

Protesting, she showed me her plain face which I thought was even more interesting without make-up.

"Outstanding!" I said, while pushing her to the bathroom, and spanking her at the same time.

She took her shower, got dressed in a blouse and trousers, then followed me holding a file. We sat down at the table to have breakfast. Cindy was absent. She ate with gusto and told me about her investigations.

"The castle in ruins belongs to our family."
If my memory serves me well, she found this out from me. "No! Really?" I said, surprised, playing along.

"I led my little inquiry and (she beckoned me to come closer as she was scared that Marylyn the cat would eavesdrop on our conversation) I can confirm whatever the tramp said."

She opened the local newspaper, and showed me an article that said, "What are the police doing about the suicides of teenage boys? Why don't they take steps to find out the root of the issue? What are they scared of? Of the ghosts? They are already dead. Aren't they tired of sitting in their office and hunting for flies?"

I thought for a bit about these questions when my cousin showed me some excerpts from the newspapers that she had collected for me. The first one was from September 11, 1900. Here is what it said: "Four policemen have returned blind, deaf, and dumb, after having investigated the crime scene. Are ghosts playing tricks? Or a curse? Total mystery. Since the incident, the police refuse to enter the property of the castle and have closed all the cases on the suicides."

I sighed and read the second cutting of the newspaper dated December 12, 1938. "Three seventeen-year-old boys died on the steep slope of the volcano. A boy who was with them was the only survivor and told us this: 'My friends and I had met at the gate to drink beer. The place seemed calm. When we were drinking, we saw a young luminous girl coming close. With her seducing eyes and voice, she hypnotized us. We managed to get over the gate easily. She led us to the balustrade and ordered us to jump. Everyone listened to her except me, so she slapped me very hard before disappearing.'"

That wasn't all! There was an article with a color photo. It was dated March 5, 2005. I recognised not only the balustrade but also the handwriting. Here is what was written on it: "Whoever goes over the gate will end up blind, deaf and dumb. Leave me in peace and give up on your search about the suicides and I won't hurt you. You have been warned."

I was studying the photo. The words were written in blood. I stuck the image against my nostrils and looked for a smell. I didn't find anything. I forgot for a second that my cousin was looking at me. Embarrassed, I turned my attention to the warnings.

My Gwendolyn was terrorizing the police so much that they closed the case as they didn't want to put their staff in danger! That's unbelievable and unfair! If only I didn't love her, I would have called an exorcist a long time ago.

I drank my coffee and went through the local newspaper when I saw a photo of Angelina. My heart nearly skipped a beat. She was missing. "Angelina, an eighteen-year-old girl, has been missing for 20 days. Any person who has information about her whereabouts should call the police," said the article. It sent a chill through my spine. I regretted not having worried about her when she didn't answer my phone calls.